FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an electrical plug connector, including a housing being formed of insulating material and having at least one contact chamber for an insertable contact element, and a locking device for the contact element being formed of insulating material, being constructed as a slide and being movable transversely to a plugging direction, wherein the locking device has a preliminary detent position in which the contact element can be introduced within the contact chamber, and the locking device is movable to a final detent position by transverse motion of the slide for locking of the contact element. Such plug connectors are already on the market.
The locking device of the known plug connector is used as a secondary securing device, while the primary securing device of the contact element that is introduced into the contact chamber is typically formed by detent tongues pointing away from the contact element. As plug connectors become increasingly more compact, the space for secondary securing devices also becomes tighter and tighter, and therefore there is no space left for most of the existing versions. It is predominantly for that reason that secondary securing devices constructed in the form of transverse slides have recently become increasingly important. In the known plug connectors, the housing and the locking device are constructed as separately produced individual parts, so that the slide must be introduced into the housing in its own, complicated assembly operation. In that assembly, which must be carried out by hand, care must be taken to ensure that the slide is introduced into the housing in the correct position and in such a way that it cannot fall out. The production of the individual parts not only requires a complicated assembly but also can impair the quality of the plug connector, because the tolerances add up, which is disadvantageous.